Buying PlayStation 3 80GB

Friday, January 8, 2010 by Migo | Posted in , , , , ,


I can't speak specifically fro the 80 gig but I know what the hardware differences are and I can address them.

The most important thing is games. At first, it was hard to make a case for the playstation with so few exclusives, but now, most of the big third party releases are multi-platform and the PS3 has just as many exclusives as the 360. If you just can't live without Halo or Gears of War, then the PS3 can't help you just as much as the 360 can't help you with LittleBigPlanet or Metal Gear Solid 4. I have noticed that some games do look better on the 360 but the difference is really negligible, and I feel the other advantages far outweigh this.

Of the PS3 games, I recommend Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Warhawk, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Grand Theft Auto IV.

As far as Downloadable games, there are some really solid innovative titles. PixelJunk Monsters is as addictive as tower defense games go but also really beautiful and mesmerizing. If you have a good 1080p hdtv you will appreciate the intricate detail in such a simple game. Echochrome is also a really innovative puzzle game. I also enjoy Operation creature feature as a good game to show friends who are less into games. There are many others and almost all have a free demo so you can try it out.

These downloads are all available via the playstation network which is the great online component of PS3. Before the PS3 I had never done online gaming, my computer was too slow and I didn't want to pay online fees or for extra peripherals. The PS3 made it really easy to connect to the PSN. I just set the wifi to connect to my router (all current models of the PS3 have built in Wifi) and since it's free, I didn't hesitate to sign up. I know most people talk about the PSN being inferior to Xbox Live but I don't know what more I could ask for, I can play games online, set up a buddy list, send messages and pictures, chat with or without video, download movies, demos, trailers and full games. I don't really care to do social networking through my game console but if you like, the much delayed playstation home is supposed to provide a virtual space to meet and chat using 3d avatars. My only complaint in the PSN is that the download speed seems pretty slow.

All of the non-gaming features are accessed through the xrossmedia bar which is extremely easy and intuitive to use.

Now for the media connectivity. It's awesome! The model I have has a built in card reader, but with the new models, you can purchase the Playstation 3 Media Hub+ which will not only add 2 USB ports but also a memory card reader. I always use the PS3 to show family pictures and slideshows, it's fast and easy to use and you can rotate and zoom on the fly. It's just as easy to watch movies from your digital cameras, and listening to MP3s from a CD or flash drive is enhanced by some great visualizers.

The PS3 is pretty forgiving with peripherals, I have a Mac Keyboard hooked up to it and a Jabra bluetooth headset. The hard drive can easily be switched out with one from any company as long as its the right size. The system itself will guide you through the swap out process. the controller is the same great layout from Playstation 2 with an added home button, and R2 and L2 have become triggers. I recently bought RealTriggers which help but I used it for a year an a half without.

I can't say enough about how awesome Blu-ray is. I hear a lot of people talking about upscaled DVD being just as good, but if you ever see any blu-ray on a 1080p screen, you can appreciate the difference. The image is so clean and crisp, even the sound is noticeably better. The jump in image quality is jaw dropping. I especially recommend Transformers, 300, Casino Royale, Spider-Man 3, Planet Earth, and Sunshine [Blu-ray] as great films to Showcase the Blu-rays capabilities. That being said, the PS3's DVD upscaling is also good. If you've ever played a DVD on a PS2, the same controls apply. Fast forward, rewind, skip, play, stop are all easy, it's just a shame there's no dedicated top menu button.


Overall, this system is great. A bit pricey but totally worth the cost (especially compared to 360 plus the added price of online fee and overpriced proprietary peripherals). An essential part of any modern home theater system.

Hard Drive Update:
I just upgraded the hard drive on my PS3 from 60 to 250 gigs. It could not have been easier. I purchased a Seagate Momentus 5400.4 ST9250827AS - Hard drive - 250 GB - internal - 2.5" - SATA-300 - 5400 rpm - buffer: 8 MB. I chose seagate because of the price and because PS3 comes with a seagate by default but any brand should do. C-net has a great step by step tutorial on the specifics of hard drive swap. Other than backing up my data and restoring it (I used a separate external hard drive) the swap out process itself took less than 10 minutes.
Now I'm downloading PSN games willy nilly and don't have to worry about running out of space.
an interesting side note, you can use any external hard drive that is formatted FAT32.Get more detail about PlayStation 3 80GB.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 8, 2010 at 11:07 PM and is filed under ,,,,,. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.

No Responses to "Buying PlayStation 3 80GB"

Leave a Reply